


Like Leaves in a Whirlpool

by ShivaVixen



Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternater Universe- Time Travel, Gen, Kakashi is in over his head, More characters to be added, Reasons explored and ignored, Time Travel, naruto is oblivious
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-23
Updated: 2019-12-04
Packaged: 2020-12-31 17:29:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,937
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21149492
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ShivaVixen/pseuds/ShivaVixen
Summary: Kakashi wakes up back in time, and decides to blatantly copy Maito Gai and de-rails all the schemes of those aiming for his tiny students.Most of them. Naruto is the number one most surprising ninja for a reason.





	1. In Which Kakashi Throws Expectations Out The Window

**Author's Note:**

> So this is just a mix of fun nonsense and plot that was sitting on my hard drive- enjoy!

Back in time, Kakashi stared at the faces on the mountain. His Sharingan was back as well. The question was, what did he do now?

He could leave, go hunt down and beat up/rescue Obito and drag him back before the idiot got any farther in his plans. (Reality might be broken, but Naruto proved one could fix it with a little hard work.)

But he was scheduled to take students soon, brats he was going to fail until his cute little students (and he had a good idea where he went wrong last time, being too wrapped up in his failures to be any good with them; this time, he wasn’t clinging to his grief and guilt so much that he’d fail them as their sensei) came along.

Kakashi left his apartment, needing to check on the rest of the city. No one bothered him as he walked with Icha Icha Paradise, paying more attention to his surroundings than usual. He walked by the Academy first, it was lunch time, he saw Sakura giggling with Ino, Sasuke ignoring them and the other various fan girls that were stalking him. The other Rookie 9 were scattered about eating, sleeping or just playing around.

But there was no sign of Naruto. Kakashi glanced over the group again, and immediately focused on Hinata, the one person other then Iruka that would know and care about the blond. She kept glancing towards the practice grounds. 

Kakashi adjusted his course to walk by there,and saw Naruto throwing shuriken at the practice targets.

“Naruto, why don’t you stop for lunch?” Mizuki the future traitor walked over to Naruto. Kakashi stopped behind a tree to turn a page. “I know you want to take the exam early, but that’s no reason to wear yourself out.”

“Ah, Mizuki-sensei!” Naruto smiled.

Kakashi left. It wasn’t his place to attack someone that hadn’t yet become a traitor. He would have to come up with something though.

He wandered by the training grounds Gai had frequented, and was relieved to see him and Lee sparring. Neji and Tenten were keeping score. Kakashi flipped another page, and tried to ignore the ache of the sight of Gai without the wheelchair, of Neji without a spike through him. Tenten looked so young and exasperated as Lee yelled he would do two hundred pushups for losing their spar. Wouldn’t be long before Lee would prove that failure at the Academy was just a minor setback... Kakashi paused, lifting his focus from his book.

Kakashi stared at Lee, remembering that Gai had taken him as an apprentice before getting the other two.

And just like that, the vague half-formed plans he’d been thinking of changed completely and he left to continue his walk.

There was a really important hidden reason that Kakashi had been failing teams, other than the certainty that they wouldn’t be able to work together long enough to survive their first mission out of the village. (Nearly happened, so many times, but Naruto, Sakura and even Sasuke still kept coming back, didn’t hold the fact he was just barely sensei material against him, even started pulling him out of the mire of his old grief and guilt.)

Namely, Naruto wasn’t on them. It hadn’t been something he’d advertised, but as painful as it had been the first time around to watch Naruto and compare him to his sensei (Kushina was a more accurate comparison, but Kakashi had always been closer to Minato) upon finding himself in the past, with Naruto about to try gennin exam attempt number one, and with the survivor’s guilt no longer weighing heavy, Kakashi decided to take a page from Gai’s book.

As he outlined his proposal for the Sandaime, he hoped he wouldn’t get shut down- Naruto might be rough around the edges, but the kid was great at creating new jutsu and needed to learn more chakra control now rather than later, especially with what was going to happen.

“I see. There is a precedent so no one can complain...” The Sandaime smiled. “Good luck.”

And Kakashi would need it, too. Naruto wasn’t too good with books, and his concentration on things he didn’t care to learn was abysmal right now. He’d have to bribe to keep Naruto focused.

* * *

The next step was convincing one Umino Iruka of this.

“I must object to this! You put Naruto in the field and he won’t stand a chance.” Iruka glared at them both.

“I’m not going to endanger him, I’m going to teach him. Thanks to the gag order, Naruto has no idea of his own clan and the fact that the Uzumaki were chakra tanks naturally ... he can’t do Academy standard, and if the Uzumaki had alternative chakra control teachings, they’re long destroyed.” Kakashi crossed his arms. “We’re crippling him keeping him in the Academy, and that will kill him.”

“...” Iruka clenched his fists and looked at the Hokage.

“I’m afraid I must agree with Kakashi, Iruka. Naruto will got to him for training, and then submit for the Academy exam with the rest of his year mates to confirm that he needed alternative training.” Sarutobi explained. “He won’t technically be a full gennin until that exam, but apprentices are technically equal to a low level gennin, so he will be doing D and occasional C ranks under Kakashi’s guidance.”

* * *

“Naruto, please stay after class, there’s someone who needs to speak with you.” Iruka stopped him, then almost got a heart attack as the chronically late Hatake actually arrived on time.

“I didn’t do it!”

“Do what?” Iruka was going to be checking for pranks all over the Academy, so much for an early night.

“Maa, I’m not here about things you didn’t do.” Kakashi looked at Iruka. “You haven’t told him?”

“Didn’t expect you to be on time, Hatake-san.” 

“Well then, Uzumaki Naruto, my name is Hatake Kakashi, I’m a jounin sensei. I’d like for you to be my apprentice.”

“I don’t understand.” Naruto stated plaintively. “Iruka-sensei said I failed?”

“Here’s the thing, the Academy tests are good for the basics, but, well, you’re an Uzumaki. That clan was known for having double the chakra reserves of an average ninja, and had particular issues withcontrolling it.”

“And you can help?” Naruto looked up at him eagerly. Not even registering that Kakashi had mentioned a clan.

Kakashi nodded. “It won’t be easy, and you’ll have to take the Academy exam again just to prove you’re doing well under my tutelage, but I think you can make it.”

Naruto had an insanely fast learning curve once out of the Academy. Chakra control was necessary, and Kakashi was quickly reminded that Naruto had earned the title of Number One Surprising Ninja.

Because this time he put too much chakra in his feet and blew a crater in the tree’s trunk.


	2. Chapter 2

In hindsight, he probably should have remembered sooner how much Naruto at this age needs to be seen and acknowledged by more than just a sensei.

And that dumb stunts that might follow.

Still, it’s only one incident and that almost empty building needed renovation anyway.

Also, no one died, and it’s not like buildings haven’t been damaged by over eager gennin (that’s what training grounds are for, but some have been known to practice at home because they got used to the academy level jutsu being relatively non-harmful) but considering that the over eager gennin in question is Naruto... who hasn’t been told by Mitsuki about the fox...

Kakashi had to barter a lot of favors in order to be allowed to tell Naruto why people are scared of him and why he needs to be more careful.

It ... doesn’t quite go like he thought.

Naruto runs off, and Kakashi has to summon his dogs (and send Pakkun to get Iruka) to keep track.

Iruka, when he arrives, has a good left hook.

“Why would you tell him that?! He’s a kid!!”

“I know that! But he needed to know! Better to learn now than from someone else that wants to hurt him!” Kakashi retorted, emotions frayed from the possibility that maybe Naruto was unready to learn the truth now and it would be Kakashi’s luck that he’d lose Naruto instead of Sasuke this go round. “He needs to know that there’s a reason why he’s disliked so he can overcome it!”

“Naruto is a child! Special circumstances, but still a child, why would you-“

“Because I also wanted to tell him about his mother!” Kakashi snapped and it takes all his control not to go farther than what he agreed with the Hokage. “She was the previous container. Naruto... needs to know about her, at least.”

‘I had a mom, Kakashi-sensei, she was awesome even if it was just a chakra impression.’ That had been a kick to the gut, realizing that Naruto had grown up occasionally thinking his parents hadn’t existed.

“You knew his mother?” Iruka was stunned.

“Yes. I was assigned to guard her while she was pregnant with Naruto.” Kohona is big enough that not all ninjas know each other by sight, for all of the gossip that goes around.

Most just concern themselves with their peers, and unless one marries into a clan (given most clan’s had concerns over bloodlines) there’s no public ceremony for ninjas to announce it. Especially in wartime.

So the only ones that actually knew that the two had actually married were select members of the council and Anbu.

Them sleeping together was slightly better known, but given that some of the lower jounin had theories that Kushina was also sleeping with Jiraiya, various foreign shinobi, and one idiot who claimed himself, it was usually treated as a rumor.

It was the main reason why Naruto’s public birth certificate had only his mother’s name and’father unknown’.

“I had a mom?” Is a quiet whisper and both Iruka and Kakashi pounce.

Naruto doesn’t struggle. And Kakashi ignores the fact that he leans into Iruka more than him.

“You did. She was the previous bearer of the kyuubi.” Kakashi held up a picture from her file. “When female containers give birth, they run the risk of their burdens escaping... but she wanted a family.”

“So ... is it my fault?” Naruto asked softly.

“No, evidence suggests your mother was attacked while giving birth... though not everyone knows that.” Kakashi watched Iruka tighten his grip on Naruto. “I’m sorry, but you deserved to know why it’s going to be harder for you.”

“Thanks ... I guess.” Naruto took the picture staring at it. “She’s really pretty.”

“Her nickname was the Red-hot Habanero, some one ever told her she couldn’t do something, she’d work twice as hard to prove them wrong.” Kakashi grimaced. “She was rather fierce.”

They spend hours there, Kakashi telling Naruto about his mother, her clan and the kyuubi (he has to catch himself from naming Kurama, and somehow that feels like swallowing nails) and why Naruto has to be the best he can be.

It rewarding when Naruto hugs him and invites him to Ramen with Iruka.

Still, Naruto does thrive on interacting with others and thankfully the answer comes in the form of Shikamaru and Chouji one day at the Ichijoru’s Ramen stand. Shikamaru warily looking at Kakashi, as he asks where Naruto has been.

Naruto excitedly begins talking about training and awesome jutsu without even mentioning his mother or the fox and Kakashi smiles when he catches sight of Hinata just outside the stand.

He’s going to try to get Naruto to be more observant, but that’s going to take a while.


End file.
